esuit Father Ravignan, and the poet Theodore de Banville.

The Lycee Charlemagne is in a building in the Rue St. Antoine, formerly
used as the Jesuits' convent. Being situated in one of the poorest
sections of Paris, the children from which as a rule do not get beyond
the primary schools, it receives most of its scholars from the numerous
boarding-schools of the Quartier du Marais. Among the many well-known
names formerly on the roll of the Lycee Charlemagne are those of Gustave
Dore, Theophile Gautier, Admiral Jurien de la Graviere, Michelet; the
dramatic critic Francisque Sarcey; Got the comedian, and Buffet the
statesman.

These five lyceums of Paris, with their 7500 day scholars and boarders,
and the eighty lyceums in the provinces, have precisely the same
programme and rules of government throughout. The boarders are divided
into three sections, the first being for the _petits_--viz., boys
averaging from seven to twelve, who are instructed in the elementary
course, comprising the eighth and seventh classes; the second is for the
_moyens_, who receive instruction in the grammar course, comprising the
sixth, fifth and fourth classes; the third is for the _grands_, who,
taking their place in the third and second classes, proceed with the
higher course, embracing rhetoric, philosophy, and, if desired, special
mathematics. Although at playtime the boys meet in a common play-ground,
during school-hours they are distributed in different rooms or studies
(_etudes_), one class generally corresponding to a study. There is thus
the eighth, fourth or second study, just as there is the eighth, fourth
or second class. The professors--of whom there are from fifteen to
thirty, the number of boys ranging from three hundred to twelve
hundred--superintend the classes, while the dozen poor, ill-paid ushers
have to keep order in the _etudes_. The scholars signify their contempt
for the ushers--officially known as _maitres repetiteurs_--by nicknaming
them _pions_ or watch-dogs. Yet not an usher but is appointed, like all
others engaged in the lycee, by the minister. Each one of them has
obtained his degree as bachelor, and many only accept the situation as a
means of economically pursuing their studies toward the higher degrees
and fellowships. Where the class is a large one, the corresponding study
is usually divided into two, so as to reduce the number in one _etude_
to about thirty. The lads making up each _etude_ sleep in one dormit